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VII. Collaboration with Cantonal and District Courts

The War Crimes Chamber’s limited mandate and resources mean that it will only try a limited number of war crimes cases. The majority of war crimes trials will therefore take place before the cantonal and district courts in Bosnia’s constituent entities. Although a detailed analysis of the functioning of these courts is beyond the scope of this report, there are reasons to believe that their lack of resources, among other factors, may undermine their ability to conduct fair and effective war crimes trials.²²³ These courts and prosecutor’s offices require sufficient resources and capacity to try these cases. The international community should therefore coordinate donor support between these courts and the chamber to ensure that all war crimes cases are handled fairly and effectively.

The chamber also has the potential to enhance the capacity of the professionals in the cantonal and district courts to handle these cases. In terms of capacity building, we recognize that the chamber’s primary focus is on bolstering the skills of the national staff within the State Court. Moreover, as a relatively young institution, the means of cooperating with national legal professionals outside of the State Court may not have been formalized at this stage. Nonetheless, there are indications of some efforts to nurture collaboration with professionals in the entity courts, which are outlined below.

In terms of judicial collaboration, there are no formal meetings between judges of the state and entity courts. There is, however, some interaction between judges of the State Court and those of the entity courts. For example, a number of national judges in the State Court came from the district and cantonal courts and have maintained informal relationships with judges in those courts. Representatives of the State Court (including judges) have also conducted a number of regional presentations outlining the court’s work, which encouraged a level of interaction with entity court judges in the respective regions.²²⁴

There have been events organized by outside organizations, such as the UNDP, aimed at increasing collaboration. More recently, a number of judges participated in a “judicial college” event, which was aimed at building relationships between judges of the state and entity courts and fostering collaboration. Almost all national judges and several international judges attended the event from the State Court, and there were between 12 and 15 participants from the 17 entity courts.²²⁵

There is also a degree of informal collaboration in war crimes cases between prosecutors at the state and entity levels when necessary and relevant to a particular case. Further, the Special Department for War Crimes recently held a meeting with the entity prosecutors to discuss issues relating to access to ICTY material. There are plans to hold additional meetings beginning in early 2007 to discuss other general issues of mutual concern regarding war crimes cases.²²⁶

The War Crimes Chamber’s contribution to the development of the judicial system and its overall impact on the rule of law in Bosnia should be maximized to the fullest extent possible. The challenges faced by the cantonal and district courts in conducting fair and effective trials underline the importance of collaboration with the chamber in war crimes cases. We therefore welcome efforts made to date to foster communication and cooperation between the state and entity court judges and prosecutors in relation to war crimes issues and encourage increased collaboration, both formal and informal, between these professionals on an ongoing and regular basis. Indeed, the strategy to phase international staff out of the War Crimes Chamber and its organs by the end of 2009 underscores the importance of creating and seizing opportunities to enhance collaboration as soon as possible.

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